News

Facebook has updated its free app to version 6.9.1. The update lets users choose whose posts to see in News Feed, and also puts all uploaded videos into one album. More notable, however, was Facebook’s introduction of Paper. The new iOS app lets users view their Facebook News Feed in addition to other sections featuring outside content, such as sports and food. At first glance, Paper looks like an intriguing, well-designed app. It will be released Feb. 3, and we’ll have more on it next week.

Jack and the Beanstalk ($5) is more than just another new interactive storybook app from Nosy Crow. The developer has really upped the ante — a more cinematic presentation highlights the upgraded high-resolution graphics, and the camera work within the app is very well done. More gaming elements have been added, and Nosy Crow hopes that will get more reluctant readers into the story. For instance, Jack gets to climb the beanstalk while being assisted by the child reader. All of this is bolstered by the same high-quality voice acting and music expected from Nosy Crow.

The much-acclaimed The Room Two ($3) from Fireproof Games has gone universal in version 1.0.3. This differs from the original The Room, which required users to make a separate purchase of The Room Pocket to play the game on iPhone. Due to its heavy graphics demands, The Room Two is compatible with iPhone models 4S and later, and fifth-generation iPod touch.

SwiftKey’s predictive keyboard has long been popular on Android, and it has finally come to iOS in the form of a note-taking app, SwiftKey Note. The free app from SwiftKey autocorrects words and uses next-word predictions to take notes faster. SwiftKey Note lets users sync with Evernote to backup all notes to the Evernote platform. Conceivably, you could take your notes in SwiftKey Note before accessing them later in Evernote. The app supports typing in English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian.